Growing up Laura always dreamed of working with the homeless and she has since spent ten years of her life showing compassion to them. Her past work experience includes working with individuals during the opioid epidemic and helping them get treatment for their addiction. It was a challenging job, but she found it very rewarding when she was able to help someone get back on their feet. Laura started volunteering at Emergency Shelter of Northern Kentucky in 2010 not knowing a job waited for her there in the future.
During her early career, she worked as an advocate by providing direct care to individuals every single day giving them a sense of consistency and making them feel seen. As an outreach coordinator, she was able to engage with the homeless population from a street vantage point. She says to do this job the two most important things to possess are passion and compassion.
“Let those guide your job, who you are, and what you can personally offer.”
Through her years working as an advocate, treatment coordinator, and outreach coordinator she made many connections with local shelters and programs for the homeless. One of the places that she continued to refer to throughout the years was ESNKY because of the commitment to their goal of not only lives but changing them as well. When an outreach coordinator position opened, she jumped to work for an organization that resonated strong feelings of trust and respect in her.
As an Outreach Coordinator for ESNKY, she works on the streets to identify people who need shelter and connects them to mental
health, hospitals, local law enforcement, and other social services. She uses the VI-SPDAT assessment to find this highly vulnerable population and then works to get them placed in emergency housing, allowing her to keep track of them while she assists with social security income/benefits applicants and any other services they need. She loves seeing people who go into treatment for drug abuse or alcoholism and come out sober and can reconnect with their families. She says that it makes the hard days worth it when they see the self-worth in themselves that the staff saw all along.
While working at ESNKY, she learned about housing procedures, grants, and funding that proved new to her even with all her experience of working with the homeless in the past. This job also offered her a chance at promotions and new positions to further allow her to grow in her career. Over the years the organization continues to expand and to connect individuals to housing, mental health services, and other community resources. She has worked with many agencies and she says that the level of commitment and compassion at this place is unmatched. She hopes to continue to see ESNKY grow and is grateful that she gets to be a part of its advancement.
By: Emily Broyles the Scripps Howard Communication Intern